The Emerald Star

[Neil]

(tentative name)



Well, I found a tube just sitting around from the tar paper that the contractor was putting on the roof of the inlaw apartment we are building... And I did what any good rocketeer would do: I grabbed it. Then I measured it. Then I went to Rocksim.

Just before I found the tube, I had almost decided that I wanted to buy the LOC Big Nuke. Something that I cant afford right now. So I am making a slightly smaller, shorter version out of the tube I found. I think I will call it the "Emerald Star". Its not carved in stone yet, though, so if you have a better idea, speak up...

The tube is 128 MM ID, 136MM OD, with 4 MM wall thickness (I have metric calipers, and I am too lazy to translate... ), and 36" long. With perfect shape.

The rocket will be pretty stubby compared to the rest of my rockets, only 66" tall. But, whos complaining. I just scored a tube for free which would have cost me $33 to buy from LOC Precision.

The rocket will have a single 54MM motor, triangular TTW fins (duh), a side-hatch electronics bay, and one of my parachutes to bring it home. And a nuts&bolts motor retention system.

Im going to build it like a tank...Im thinking of glassing the whole thing.... Not sure if it needs it, though, so I might not... But then again, I need glassing practice... So I guess I will. OK, 1 layer of 6 OZ glass, and, what the heck, tip to tip glassing. Overkill maybe, but I need glassing practice...

So heres the rsim file....

Tell me what ya think!

 

[DPatell]

I can't open the Rocksim because I only have version 5.

From the sounds of this thing, it's a brick. 4mm thick wall is pretty thick, almost 3/16". I doubt you'll need glass.

Since I can't see the Rocksim, what is your plan for a cone.

also, is it spiral wrapped, or straight wrapped tube?

my final question....where do you come up with these names...

 

[Neil]

Do you like the name or hate the name?


Spiral wrapped... Just about the same as a LOC tube, ony the seams go down at a mcuh steeper angle.


Yes, I have my doubts about the need for glass too... But... Should I put a layer of 2 OZ glass for finishing purposes (the seams are pretty big...), or just leave it plain? I think one layer of 2 OZ would do it some good... I had to tear off some of the paper to get the tar from the tar paper off...


Well, heres how I come up with names:

I design the rocket, and once the rsim is finished, I go to close out of the program. It asks me what to name it. I sit there considering for 10-15 minutes (to the annoyment of whoever is waiting to use the computer after me), and finnaly come up with something. It takes anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for something to pop into my head... It usually has something to do with fire, flames, or LOTR. Fire in the Hole (fire), Shadow and Flame (LOTR), Firebird (fire), Emerald Star (nothing in particular... I had been sitting there trying to come up with a name for about half an hour and i was getting desperate...) ETC ETC ETC.

 

[phaar]

That is exactly how I come up with my names only I do it before I close out rocksim. I look at the flight sims and then I look at performance and looks combined and then I sit and I think and think. Then, instant name!

 

[phaar]

By the way, I like the name. Very creative.

 

[strudleman]

No Rocksim here, so I can't see the design But 5 foot 6, and 5 inches wide, it sounds like one heck of a rocket!

So, you've told us how you come up with a name. How about the paint scheme? Do you come up with it after the rocket's built, and try to fit it to the name?

Personally, I build the rocket first. Then I come up with a paint scheme (basically by sitting there and staring at the rocket, and then staring at my available paints, then back again). When it's all done I pick a name that meets the overall look and feel of the rocket (or that's the goal at least).

 

[Neil]

Well, first I design the rocket. Then I choose the paint scheme. Here are some of my fauvorites:

Red and Black
Red, yellow and blue
Green and silver
Yellow, orange and red
Orange and white

It all depends on which kinds of spray paint I have at the moment, though.

If you could see the rsim, the rocket will have a green nose and tube, with black fins.

I plan to turn the nosecone out of foam on a lathe, then glass it.

 

[Ryan S.]

Originally posted by DPatell


my final question....where do you come up with these names...

ROTFL!!!

 

[HeadHunter]

Not trying to be a buzz kill here, but just my .02

I think you might want to weigh this thing and do a mass override in rocksim, it might change more than a few things about your simulation and the CG

 

[Neil]

Havent gotten around to weiging it yet... But theres already a pound of weight in the nose in my design... Its proabably a lot heavier than rsim predicted (its telling me its under 10 pounds right now... That cant be right, can it?)

 

[Neil]

OK... I got the tube slotted, hatch cut, and coupler tube cut... The coupler brings to mind something else... The tube above the coupler.


The contractor put in a screened and roofed porch... Naturally, he used tar paper. Naturally, the tar paper came on a roll. Also naturally, he used the same kind of tar paper as last time, with the same tube in the middle...

So I was trying to climb up onto the roof to see what it looked like up there (dont ask. I was bored, and when I am bored, I climb. And this was the only thing for two miles that doesent have sap that sticks to my hands when I climb...))... And I saw he had finished tarpapering it. So I jumped down (no longer bored. ), and ran towards the place where he dumps the trash to haul it away at the end of the week or whatever. And there is a perfect tube sitting there, and it as good as screamed "Make the Emerald Star 38" longer!!!!" So I cut a section of another tube about the same size to make a coupler out of... It worked, so now the rocket will be 100" finished instead of 62" finished! Its gonna be pretty cool.... Rsim sways itll only be 10 pounds, but I think itll be more like 15 dry.... Just got a feeling.

I was wondering about military surplus chutes... I found a place that sells 9' chutes, but im not sure what its made of, and I want to know its a good buy... I suppose I could make myself a chute the size of my choice, but I dont want to bother with it this time. So... Are military parachutes good buys? Heres the link to where I saw it...
Military surplus chute. Scroll down. Its the 9 footer.


This rocket should be done (exept for nose cone, which will have to wait untill we get a late, sometime in September) within a few weeks... Should be fun!

 

[Neil]

Oh, and here is the rsim file... Tell me what ya think!